Charles Xavier (canon character)
Character History Childhood and occurrence of mutation. Charles Francis Xavier is the only son of nuclear researcher Brian Xavier and his wife, Sharon. When Brian passed away, Sharon remarried to a man named Kurt Marko, who worked as Brian's colleague. Kurt brought with him a son, Cain, a cruel and spiteful boy who bullied Charles throughout their childhood years together. Kurt secretly beat Cain as punishment, and young Charles felt his stepbrother's pain and resentment firsthand due to the emergence of his telepathic abilities. Sharon died just before Charles finished high school, and barely a year later, a fire in the family home took Kurt’s life. Cain was arrested and jailed for several years due to petty crimes he'd committed, while Charles began to live on his own as the sole inheritor of his parents' wealth. Education and young adulthood. Charles entered Harvard University at age 16 and earned his bachelor's degree in biology within two years. He was then accepted into the graduate-studies program at England's prestigious Oxford University, where he earned degrees in genetics and biophysics. There, Charles met and fell in love with a young Scotswoman named Moira Kinross. Their passionate discussions on the subject of genetic mutation gave way to romance, and they planned to marry. Their only obstacle was Moira's former boyfriend, Joe MacTaggert, a lance corporal in the Royal Marines and a bully, just like Cain. In Joe's eyes, Charles was a good-for-nothing intellectual, so Charles enlisted in the military after completing his studies at Oxford to validate himself in terms his rival would understand. Travels and call to mutant advocacy. When Moira later on broke off their engagement without explanation, Charles was devastated. He left the Army and began traveling the world. In Cairo, Egypt, he encountered Amahl Farouk, a mutant capable of summoning forth the darkness in the souls of others. This confrontation led to Charles' decision to devote his life to protecting humanity from evil mutants and saving innocent mutants from human oppression. He next traveled to Israel, where he fell in love with I sraeli diplomat Gabrielle Haller. He also befriended Holocaust survivor Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, a fellow mutant who would later become his greatest rival: Magneto. While Charles optimistically believed that humans and mutants could coexist, Erik foresaw mutants as the new minority to be persecuted and hunted because of their differences. It was during a trip to the Himalayas that Charles had an encounter with a mutant that called himself "Lucifer". After Charles foiled his plans to destroy one of the villages in the area, Lucifer dropped a huge stone block on him, crippling his legs. When Lucifer left, a young girl named Sage heard Charles's telepathic cries for help and rescued him, beginning a long alliance between the two. In a hospital in India, he was brought to an American nurse named Amelia Voght, and with time they fell in love. After Charles was released from the hospital, the two moved into an apartment in Bombay together, although eventually they moved to the United States to live on the Xavier family estate. However, their conflicting beliefs regarding the mutant phenomenon eventually caused an irreparable rift between them. Amelia left Charles, accusing him of recruiting their kind to what she believed to be a lost cause. Charles tried to force her to stay using his powers, but immediately grew ashamed of this and let her go. After returning to America from his travels, Charles resumed graduate work at Columbia University in New York, and after receiving a Ph.D. in anthropology he spent several years in London earning a Ph.D. in psychiatry from Oxford. Founding the Institute and the X-Men. Over the years, Charles made a name for himself as geneticist and psychologist, becoming renowned enough that the Greys were referred to him when no other expert could help their catatonic daughter, Jean. Charles trained her in the use of her telekinesis, while inhibiting her telepathic abilities until she matures, believing she could not handle the power safely. Encouraged by his success in helping Jean, Charles founded Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, informally called "The Xavier Institute". He used the mutant-locating computer Cerebro to assemble his original group of students, which included Scott Summers and Hank McCoy. The Institute served to provide a safe haven for mutants and teach them to master their abilities. In addition, Charles sought to foster mutant-human relations by providing his superhero team, the X-Men, as an example of mutants acting in good faith. With his inherited fortune (net worth of 3.5 billion dollars), Charles continues to use his ancestral mansion at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center, Westchester County, New York as a school and base of operations for the X-Men. Powers and Abilities High level telepathy Charles Xavier is widely regarded as the world's strongest telepathic mind. He is able to perceive the thoughts of others or project his own thoughts within a radius of approximately 250 miles. With extreme effort or the use of Cerebro, he can extend the range of his telepathy to cover distances as great as thousands of miles. His vast psionic powers enable him to manipulate the minds of others, warp perceptions, project mental illusions, cause loss of particular memories, and induce pain or temporary mental and/or physical paralysis in others. Within close range, he can manipulate almost any number of minds for such simple feats. However, he can only take full possession of one other mind at a time, and must be within that person's physical presence. He can also telepathically take away or control people's natural bodily functions and senses, such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, or even mutant powers. Power blocking is a form of control that lasts only a very limited time, usually no more than several minutes, depending on the mutant's mental strength. Charles can induce the loss of specific memories or even total amnesia. He can also project powerful mental 'bolts,' enabling him to stun the mind of another person into unconsciousness or even cause death. These 'bolts' inflict damage only upon other minds, having a negligible effect on non-mental beings, if any. Charles is one of the few telepaths skilled enough to communicate with animals and even share their perceptions. He can also learn foreign languages by reading the language centers of the brain of someone adept. The manner in which Charles's powers function indicates that his telepathy is physical in some way, as it can be enhanced by physical means (e.g. Cerebro) and can be disrupted by physical means (e.g. Magneto's helmet). Power Potential: Charles is one of the few mutants who seem able to continuously discover and tap into higher levels of his powers, making the possibilities for new abilities appear endless. With additional training, it is likely he would be able to fully manipulate the minds of multiple individuals at once, making feats such as controlling an entire army by thought a likelihood. Power Weaknesses: Charles's telepathy is naturally limited by proximity and and the extent of his stamina (he tires after a few hours, depending on psionic activity being done). Because his powers are centered almost entirely in his mind, any trauma to the head would result in him being unable to use his abilities. Side effects: As a result of his psionic gifts, Charles has an eidetic memory, giving him an enhanced ability to store and process new information. A negative side effect of his powers also resulted in the complete loss of his hair by the time he reached his 30s. Special skills A bonafide scientific genius, Charles is renowned worldwide as one of the leading authorities on evolutionary genetics, and is often sought after for his expertise on mutant phenomena. He possesses extensive knowledge of both life sciences (biology, medicine and their many disciplines) and the less recognized field of psionics, which are his key instruments in helping his mutant charges understand and control their unique abilities. He stays up to date on the latest technological advancements and is a highly-skilled computer engineer and programmer, having invented the Cerebro supercomputer and designed the original Danger Room. Although he leaves his financial interests mostly in the hands of his family lawyers and brokers, he is an adept businessman with a knack for choosing wise investments, thus resulting in the continuous growth of his wealth. Charles is well-versed in political science and constitutional law, which allow him to serve as a powerful voice and representative for mutant rights before both the American government and the lawmaking bodies of other nations. He possesses knowledge of martial arts, combat techniques and the use of pressure points. However, his physical handicap prevents him from putting any of it into practice. Weaknesses Charles is a paraplegic with near zero use of his legs. Even with the physical therapy he constantly receives to prevent total muscle deterioration, he cannot stand for longer than a minute and cannot walk more than a few steps. It is accepted by him and medical professionals that he would never fully walk again. 'Personality' Strengths Strong will. Strong faith. Compassion. Generosity. Patience. Weaknesses: Idealism may be excessive. Pride. Can at times be manipulative. Likes Teaching Conversations Novels. Chess. Old movies. Classics like Cassablanca and Ben-Hur Big band music. The Rat Pack. Dislikes Discrimination Apathy Prejudice Bullies/oppressors. Relationships Erik Magnus Lehnsherr First Students and X-Men Jean Grey Scott Summers Ororo Munroe Students of the Xavier Institute Trivia *His legs receive everyday therapeutic massages from a designated infirmary assistant to provide exercise and stretching for his atrophied muscles. *His favorite book is T.H. White's "The Once and Future King". *When it comes to food, the only particular dish Charles has ever called his "favorite" is his former student (and currently Head Chef of the Institute) Micheal Kreip's nachos. *Has a pet orange tabby cat named Merlin. *Was an accomplished equestrian and polo player in his younger years. *He had his first kiss during his freshman year at Harvard--he was 14 years old, and the girl was 18. *When he was 16, he briefly played for the lacrosse team of Harvard University but eventually quit when he felt his powers gave him an unfair advantage. Quotes "I'm in this chair because I tried to do what is right. I tried to save people. And sometimes, doing the right thing comes with a price." (XI-3, Student Consultations. 09/09/08) "Losses are always hard, but they are also an indication that there are things in your life that you hold dear. People whom you love, and who are valuable to you. We cannot live our lives not enjoying the presence of such people because we are afraid of the mere chance of loss." (XI-4, Student Consultations. 08/13/09) "You have always been like a daughter to me, Jean. Although I have come to see all my other students as my children, you were the first to embrace me as family, as your father." (XI-4, Ceremonial Gardens. 11/23/09)